Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1887-06-10
Uncle Sans Bookcase at Wash.
ingtOn.


Another room is devoted to news
nap,rs, and it is wonderful how
large II collection OF newspapers and
periodical literature our National Ia
brary has. 1t has American papers
in complete files back to colonial days,
and some of its English papers are
complete in their files back to the mid
die of 1.-THE seventeenth century. There
are hundreds of volumes OF the Lon
don Times, and the file OF this paper
is complete from its beginning. AS an
example of the growth in the size OF
newspapers, the first year of the Lon
don Times (1765) is easily bound in
one volume. A year of the Times now
makes four bulky volumes larger than
the one of 1875, and the paper is more
than four times as large.
The Oldest complete English news
paper in the Library is the London
iiazette, which was first issued i'll 1858
and which is still the court paper OF
England. Its first numbers we're pub
lis he'd at Oxford on account OF the
great fire in London, and they consist
ed OF O. single folio about the size OF q
sheet of foolscap. The paper of the
first volume is yellow with age, but
the ink shows out as plainly as when
it was first published, now over two
hundred years ago. It's first volume
comprises three years Of numbers, and
is no thicker than q bound volume OF
one of the large monthly magazines.
Two hundred years later, half year
o. this paper made u bound volume
thicker than the thickest Webster's
dictionary, and it is now fifty times
the size it was when it was first
printed.
The library secured the complete
files of this paper in q curious way.
Mr.. S offord tells me the story: 1.-THE
complete files OF the London Ga
zette." says he. ''are very ERE, and
this file was bought years ago from u
second hand bookseller on the Strand
in London. The Queen wanted set
for her library, but the bookseller
was Republican and a follower OF
Garlic, the chartist, and he would not
let the Crown have it. He told the
Queens bidders that he had another
place for it, and it was offered to the
committee on the Library OF Congress.
Edward Everett was then member
or that committee. and he urged its
purchase. Through his influence it
was bought, and it cost the Govern
ment only three hundred dollars.
The library has the two great
French journals, the Moniteur, be-
ginning in 1889, until it was merged
into the journal Otficiel, and down to
date; and also the Journal des Debats.
These last Mr.. Spofford got at the
auction sale of the library OF the his
They cost him less than 81 a volume
and were undoubtedly q great bargain.
The library has also complete file
OF the Allgemeine Zeitung the noted
illustrated German paper, and it has
thousands of American, Spanish, Next
can, French and other papers OF
every language from Japanese to En-
glish. Many of these ale complete,
and the set of American newspapers
now comprises two OF the leading ones
of every State. The library sub
scribed for these, and it has in addi-
ton many Others that are sent to 1t.
Some OF these old American news
papers have been OF great value to
the Government. and the full set of
the Charleston Courier, covering the
period OF the late civil war, has saved
it hundreds OF thousands of dollars.
This set OF files WAS bought by the Gov
eminent at the request of the Southern
Claims Commission, who wanted the
daily papers of the war period. The
man holding the papers would only
sell the whole file from the beginning
away back in 1880, and the Govern
ment paid $4,000 for It. Whenever
claim for damages on the ground
OF loyalty and consequent loss OF prop
erty was sent up by any of the citi
zens OF Charleston or South Carolina,
these pap rs were referred to. and in
many cases conclusive proof was
found in them that the claimants
had been Confederates. and that they
had taken part in the Confederate
meetings during the war. This barred
them from receiving any thing from
the Government. and the buying OF
the papers was a very profile bic in
vestment. Cosmopolitan.
toI III